Blame: The Story
by crazytomboy78
Summary: A fight gone wrong for Iron Man leads to Rhodey getting hurt and slipping into a coma. Tony tries to find and capture the villain who caused Rhodey's accident, but can he handle having his best friend in the hospital and tracking down a rogue criminal?
1. The Accident

**Full summary: A fight between Iron Man and a mysterious new villain gone wrong leads to Rhodey getting hurt and slipping into a coma. Tony tries to find and capture the villain who caused Rhodey's accident, but can he handle the pain of having his best friend in the hospital and tracking down a rogue criminal, or will he lose his mind?**

Everything seemed to be moving so slowly. The bullet flying through the air, him trying to push the debris from the fallen wall off of him to be able to protect his friend, the bullet penetrating his skin and the young African-American boy falling to the ground, blood beginning to stain his clothes. Why he had walked into the middle of all the action without the War Machine armor was beyond him, but once he saw the shot he managed to panic enough to push enough wall off of him to get to Rhodey.

"Rhodey! No!" Iron Man bent over the fallen body. He looked positively lifeless compared to his youthful self. Tony immediately scooped him up and brought him to the hospital.

"He's been shot, he needs immediate care!" Tony explained, shoving Rhodey into the doctor's arms. They scattered to get him onto a gurney and into an emergency room to remove the bullet and try their best to patch up the torn muscle and tissue.

"You know there's been a lot of Iron Man and injured persons here lately," The nurse said as she rushed after the doctors. Tony went to a private area where it was safe to take the armor off and quickly trudged in the direction his friend was whisked off to. The doctors told him not to go in, and Tony knew they were in the middle of cutting him open anyways, so he didn't bother. So the doctor gave him a synopsis of the case and told Tony that his friend may have a chance to survive, since the wound was so fresh and the bullet hadn't much time before he was rescued before it secreted its poisonous juices, which is what initially kills the victim (that and the bullet ripping through the tissues of important organs). Since he had gotten in so early, the chances were higher than normal but it didn't mean that he should have too high hopes because even if they got the bullet out he'd still be in a coma for who knows how long.

Tony went to the waiting room to let it soak in. Pepper, having been at the systems chair, rushed over to the hospital to console her friend. But once she got there, Tony was gone.

She tried calling his phone, but he wouldn't answer. She tried texting him, but he wouldn't answer. She tried plain tracking his signal, but he was nowhere.

It seemed that Tony had completely managed to vanish.

~…~

Severing all contact with the rest of the world, Tony went to the deepest part of the darkest alley and curled up into a ball, hugging his legs to his chest, burying his head in the crevice between his legs and his torso, he let his tears of self-blame fall as he mumbled to himself that he was a failure. He mumbled to himself that it was all his fault and that if he hadn't been so careless, Rhodey wouldn't have been at such risk. Maybe if he hadn't been so weak and foolish his friend wouldn't be cut open right now. It was his fault, everything was his fault.

~…~

After a few hours passed, Pepper began to worry about where Tony went. She began searching through all the possible places he could've went; she spent hours looking for him if she hadn't finally heard a mumbling voice coming from the alley near the hospital. She went down deep until she found him stowed away in a corner. She sighed and helped him up.

"Tony, I know you're not okay." She said.

"I don't need to be okay, I need Rhodey to be okay." Tony brushed past her and found his way back home, leaving Pepper standing there, watching him blame himself for everything.

~…~

Once Tony walked through the front door, he discovered that Roberta was about to depart for the hospital. Tony stopped only for a moment and then brushed past her, rushing for his room. Tony tried to ignore Roberta's pleas and questions as he walked up the stairs, but just couldn't anymore.

"Tony, how did this happen?" she asked one more. Tony felt an anger building up inside him.

"Because I wasn't there when he needed my help and I let him down!" Tony cried. Roberta looked confused for a moment, then filled with despair again.

"What were you doing?" she asked. Tony was silent. He didn't want to tell her it was because he's Iron Man and he's a danger to his friends more than he is a protector to them; that'd just make matters worse.

"...I don't know. Look, what's done is done. I just need to be alone." Tony said as calmly as was possible at the moment.

"How could you not know, Tony? Tell me the truth, please, I want to know!" Sadness was written deep in Roberta's eyes. Tony became angry once more.

"If I could tell you, believe me, you'd have known by now." Tony walked into his room, slamming the door behind him. As much as he wasn't telling her so he could stay Iron Man, it was just to protect someone who'd been good to him so far.

As he walked back from slamming his door, he passed the mirror and saw his reflection out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and turned to face himself. He stared at his reflection, shaking with anger as he balled his fists. He clenched his teeth and punched the mirror. The mirror smashed to pieces onto the floor, leaving his knuckles caked with blood. He went over to his desk and sat angrily. He rested his head his hands and let his silent tears fall onto the desktop. It was all his fault and he knew it. He heard a knock on his door. It sounded light, like the person knocking was trying to be polite. Tony didn't move. He heard the door quietly open and light footsteps come near him. A warm hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Tony, please…" She said softly. She tried to look for the right words, but couldn't find them. She noticed the smashed mirror and his bloody knuckle. She wasn't dumb; she realized what had happened. She didn't know whether she should start cleaning his hand or picking up the pieces of mirror. She instead grabbed the boy's bloody hand with both of her hands. He turned to face her, shaking with tears.

"What? Are you going to tell me 'everything's fine, it's going to be okay'? Well, don't bother because you're dead wrong. Everything that's happened today is all my fault. I could have saved him; it could have gone differently. It's all my fault…" The boy dropped his head back onto the desk.

"Tony, it's not your fault. You couldn't move, there was too much debris on top of you. You couldn't move until it was too late. Please, don't blame yourself for this." She begged him softly.

"It is. It _is_ my fault. I could have avoided getting crushed, and I could have saved him from being shot. I could've made everything go differently. It could've all been okay now, but it's not. I always end up losing the people closest to me…Pepper, please, just…just get away from me before something happens to you like it did everyone else I care about. I-I just can't lose you." He pointed towards the door.

"Tony, nothing's going to happen to me. I'm perfectly safe, I promise you." She tried to assure him. He stood and gripped her shoulders tightly.

"No, Pepper….please, don't bother with me anymore. If I lost you…." He turned and hid his tears from her. She was grateful that he cared for her that much.

"Tony, you'd never let anything bad happen to me, okay? Please, I hate to see you like this." She begged. The boy dropped to his knees on the floor and threw his head in his cupped hands as to hide his tears from the world.

"Please, just leave me to suffer." He cried. Pepper walked over to him and bent down next to him on the floor and placed her hand gently on his shoulder.

"Tony, the doctor said that there's still a chance that Rhodey was going to make it. Maybe we should be a little more optimistic about it." Pepper said.

"Yeah. The doctor also said there was still a chance he wasn't going to make it." Tony said angrily. Pepper sighed. It was going to be hard to cheer him up.

"Tony, there's always going to be a good way and a bad way to look at a situation. Those who only look at the bad side live miserably, while those who are positive live happily. Now wouldn't your dad and Rhodey, and Roberta, and your mom, all want you to be happy instead of miserable?" Pepper said. Tony's sobs stopped and he stood, a sour expression forming in place of the sad one. Pepper stood after him.

"I don't want to have hope anymore, Pepper. I've tried that, but all that happens in the end is me losing someone somehow. I'm done with this, I don't want to feel this pain over and over again. I-I just can't take it anymore." He explained.

"Tony, you can't be so sour about everything. If you just tried to see the bright side of things you wouldn't be as upset. And it won't hurt you to go to the ones you still have. You still have friends, like Happy, and Whitney and you always have Roberta, and," Pepper explained, suddenly taking Tony's hands in hers. "and I'll always be here for you. There's nowhere in the world I'd rather be then right here, with you. So please, Tony, let me in, because your friends can help you more than you think."

"I don't want to anymore! Every time I do that I end up losing them. I don't' want to go through that pain again. I'm done with it, okay?"

"Tony, please, please don't give up so easily! The doctors are fixing Rhodey up as best they can as we speak. He's going to be fine. Don't give up hope so easily, I hate seeing you sad like this. I miss happy Tony, the Tony that made me laugh on a daily basis, the Tony that was always overprotective of me. I'm scared right now too, Tony, believe me, but I need the real Tony right now, and I need him badly. So please, come back." Pepper said, placing a hand on Tony's cheek. Tony was silent in thought for a moment. He finally released a long, white-flag type sigh.

"I guess you're right. My mom always told me that people who are happy in life get very far with themselves, and work hard. She told me to always be happy, no matter what happens. I told her I promised I would." Tony explained.

"Well, see? There you go. Think of the positives. Rhodey could...no, will, make it through this and hey, with luck he'll come out of a coma sooner than expected. And one thing you can always be happy about is that you always have me, and you always will." Pepper said. Tony smiled and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Thanks, Pepper. You're always too good to me." Tony said. Pepper hugged him back.

"Tony, I could never hate you. I love you." Pepper said as she hugged him. Tony released a little so he could see her face. She smiled at him.

"I…I love you, too…" Tony replied. He leaned in and kissed her. Pepper was shocked for a moment but then kissed him back.

"I'll never let you go, ever…" Tony whispered to her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"No, don't ever let go of what you have, Tony." She whispered back. Tony felt warm tears start to fall down his cheeks once more. Then he felt his phone go off. He dropped his grip on Pepper and looked at his phone. It was the hospital. He sighed deeply and answered the call.

**Soo yeah, I posted this as a one-shot a long time ago and kinda left it hanging. I figured maybe someday I'd make it into a chapter story and guess what, now I am…I've really been wanting to post another chapter story for IM:AA lately since I haven't done one in a while. So here we are…review?**


	2. Can't Help But Think

_We've evaluated your friend's situation. You managed to get him here just in time, the bullet hasn't done any fatal damage. _

The doctor's words echoed in Tony's head. It sounded positive so far, yes, but that wasn't where the news ended.

_Unfortunately, he's still in a coma and we're not sure when he's going to wake up. It could take a few weeks, it could take a few months. _

Tony couldn't take it. The events of the accident kept playing and replaying in his head. The memories wouldn't go away, they just kept haunting him. The debris from the building falling on himself, the shot being fired…the blood staining his grey jacket. Roberta's face stained with tears. The disappointment he knew was written in her eyes.

Tony felt his phone vibrating on his lap, but didn't bother to pick up. He just sat on his bed, leaning against the wall, knees tucked close to his body. He didn't want to leave his room.

The call went to voicemail and Tony let it play as he heard Pepper's voice on the other end.

"_Tony, I know you're sitting at home moping. I want you to come to school, it'll be good for you to get out of the house and get your mind off of things. Just sitting in your room all day will only make you think of Rhodey more. And if you don't come to school today, I'll come over there and drag you here." _

He sighed, knowing that his (new) girlfriend wasn't kidding when she threatened to drag him, so he got off his bed and quickly got ready, then headed down to school.

Once he got there, Pepper met him at his locker and patted his back gently.

"I'm glad you got out of the house today. You'll see, school will get your mind off of all of this for a few hours. Then we can go to the hospital and see Rhodey." Pepper explained.

"How are you so calm? Aren't you scared that Rhodey will never wake up?" Tony asked as he finished exchanging books from his locker and shut the locker door.

"I am scared, Tony. I'm really scared and upset. But I know that I can't just sit around and bathe myself in my fears like this. I have to stay positive, and so do you," She explained, poking him on the chest. "And besides, I know that as long as I'm with you everything is okay."

Tony smiled and wrapped his free arm around her shoulder as they walked off to class.

~…~

When Tony sat down for class, he had an optimistic attitude. But that didn't mean it lasted very long. As he sat in drama class, the teacher dived into a lesson about some Shakespearean tragedy; which, of course, only reminded him of Rhodey. Usually he had his best friend by his side to laugh with and joke around with, and to work with on homework. Now thanks to his own carelessness, his best friend was lying in a hospital, in a forever-long sleep. What a good superhero I am, he thought.

He tried to stay positive, if not for his own sake, for Pepper's. But it just didn't work. Every time he tried to think of a positive thought he just remembered the look on Rhodey's face when he had been shot and the blood that had dripped into his hands when he pressed it to the wound. The memory just stuck to his head.

"Tony, are you still thinking about the other day?" Pepper asked as the two sat in study hall.

"Maybe." Tony said as he rested his head atop his desk, inside his arms.

"You need to stop thinking about that! It's not your fault it happened." Pepper responded.

"Yes it is! I was careless and too slow to save him. And besides, even if I wanted to stop thinking about it I can't. It's engrained in my mind now." Tony explained, his head still resting on the desk. Pepper sighed.

"Can't you at least try?" Pepper asked.

"I've tried several times now. Do you know how hard it is to keep losing the people closest to you? I've wasted all my hope on my parents and whoever else died in my family. By now I've lost track." Tony explained. Pepper understood what he was going through, and why it was so hard for him. She may not know what it's like, but she knew it was tough for him to lose so many people. Rhodey had been his best friend since he was at least seven. And at that point, they were just getting over Maria's death, so Rhodey's friendship and support had helped a lot. So instead of arguing with him, she patted his back gently and went back to her homework. She knew he just needed a little time.

~…~

After school, the two headed over to the hospital to see how Rhodey was doing. Roberta had been there talking to the doctor for a little over an hour. She had taken a half a day off from work to see him and see how he was holding up, and if they had anything new on him.

They got to the hospital and asked the front desk where his room was. Once they got to his room, Rhodey was just lying on the hospital bed, completely K-O. It hit Tony a little hard to see his friend just lying there lifelessly.

"You okay?" Pepper asked. "I-if this is too much, we can go somewhere else."

"No, no, I'm fine. It's fine," Tony responded as the two sat down in chairs at Rhodey's bedside. Roberta must have gone into some other room to talk to the doctor, because she wasn't with Rhodey. "It's just…I've always been able to protect my friends. Now that he's hurt, I feel like I can't. I feel like I've failed as a superhero…"

"Tony, no one's perfect. Not even Iron Man. What happened with Rhodey was an accident, and you know it. Rhodey's going to be okay, and if you give him a little time I'm sure he'll wake up." Pepper explained.

"Yeah, but you know how a coma works. The family and friends are all hopeful that the person in a coma will wake up soon, but then months pass. They start losing hope, and before they know it, years pass, and their hopes have been flushed down the toilet. The person is in a coma so long that the doctors have no choice but to pull the plug on them." Tony explained. "What if that happens to Rhodey?"

"That won't happen to Rhodey. Rhodey got shot and treated immediately thanks to your care and dedication. People who are in a coma for years like that have been in car accidents or have gotten concussions or something. Rhodey's accident may have been traumatic, but it's not as serious as other coma cases." Pepper assured him. Before Tony could respond, Roberta walked back in with the doctor.

"Oh, hello Tony, Pepper, did you get here just now?" Roberta greeted.

"A few minutes ago, yeah." Pepper answered, as she noticed Tony was just staring at the floor.

"How's Tony doing?" She whispered.

"Eh, he's trying to stay positive but he keeps blaming himself." Pepper explained.

"That doesn't make any sense, Tony said he wasn't with Rhodey when it happened. How could he have done anything to save James?" Roberta asked.

"Oh, uhh, he said that if he could have gotten Rhodey to come home with him right after school he wouldn't have gotten shot…you know how Tony tries to find a way to blame himself." Pepper said, pulling an excuse out of her head quickly.

"That poor kid has dealt with more of this than I can imagine. I don't know how he manages to come out as if he's okay every time. It's like he has a mask to hide behind or something." Roberta said. Pepper chuckled nervously at the comment.

"Tony's gone through a lot, I'm sure it's nothing new to him by now." Pepper responded nervously. The doctor finished evaluating something on his clipboard and the three gathered by Rhodey's bedside.

"Are you two closely related?" The doctor asked.

"Oh, this is my son's closest friend, he lives with us. And this is his girlfriend, she's James's good friend too." Roberta said, pointing over to the two. The doctor nodded. He always made sure he was talking to only the most immediate family, as that was the rules when the patient was only first being treated or admitted into a hospital.

"Okay, we've got a basic diagnosis of Mr. Rhodes' coma. The bullet isn't what caused his comatose state, he was only shot in the side and he was brought here quick enough to remove it. He must've hit his head when he fell to the ground, because our tests revealed no signs of any drugs or alcohol of any kind. He's a one on the Coma scale, which means he's unresponsive in all aspects. But I don't see him as being in a coma for long. A month, two tops. In the meantime we'll be doing all the usual, like monitoring his brain activity and subjecting his body to regular exercise so it doesn't get too weak to support his body. But to sum it up, he'll be perfectly fine. These things just take time." The doctor explained. Tony, of course, understood it crystal clear, but Pepper and Roberta had to pay attention a bit more closely.

After the doctor went over a few more key points of Rhodey's condition, it was beginning to get late so the three decided to call it a day and come back tomorrow to visit again, so Tony walked Pepper home and then went to the lab for a while to forget his troubles in armor repairs; all the usual for Tony, of course.

**Ah, well, that's enough for tonight…mostly because it's too late at night and not my favorite time to Google information about a coma for this story. So yeah. Review?**


	3. Racking His Brain

Sitting in Rhodey's hospital room the next day after school, Tony closed his eyes tight as memories of the day of the accident flooded his mind.

_The two boys were walking home from school on a normal Friday afternoon. It had been a pretty average day; business had been slow for Iron Man, and Tony hadn't had many interruptions during the course of the day. But that changed quickly. _

_The two rounded the corner to see that a man was standing in the middle of the street, pointing a gun at a police officer. The officer had called for backup, and it was just arriving. Sounds of police sirens filled the streets. The man was shaking nervously. _

_"I said back off, I don't want to have to use my special abilities on you! Let me go!" The man shouted, his voice quivering._

_"Stand down, sir, you're under arrest for disturbing the peace and threatening a police officer!" The officer shouted back. _

_Tony quickly pressed the center button on his backpack and transformed into Iron Man. He flew into the middle of the action._

_"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to stand down. You're causing a massive traffic buildup and things have gone too far here." Iron Man warned. The man held his nervous, quivering stance, his gun still pointed at the officer._

_"Aw, not Iron Man too! I can't shoot and kill Iron Man!"_

_Tony studied the look on the man's face. It was very odd. He seemed very nervous, like he didn't have any prior criminal experience at all, yet like he could possibly be mentally unstable. Like something was very wrong with him. And that combo was almost always dangerous and perhaps even fatal._

_"Look, I don't want to fight you, sir, I want to help you. Something doesn't seem right with you and I think I can help." Tony explained._

_"No, no one can help me! Nothing is wrong with me, you're dead wrong and you better shut up!" The man yelled, pointing his gun at Iron Man._

_"Hey, look, my suit is made of iron, your gun has no effect on it. Just put it down and come with me, okay?" Iron Man asked politely and carefully._

_The man yelled in anger and pulled the trigger on his gun. Instead of the bullet Tony expected, a highly-concentrated laser came out. Tony took a step to the side and managed to avoid it._

_"You missed," Tony said as he warmed up his repulsors and aimed them at the man._

_"Too bad I wasn't aiming for you!" _

_Tony turned to see that the entire top to the building behind them was coming crashing to the streets below, about to tackle them._

_"Iron Man, watch out!" Rhodey shouted. As Iron Man turned to see Rhodey, he felt the debris from the crumbled building fall in top of him. The man, upon hearing Rhodey's warning, grabbed a gun from an officer's belt and fired it at Rhodey. Tony shouted in horror as he fought to get the rubble off of himself as the bullet penetrated the boy's dark skin._

Tony shuttered as a tear fell from his eye. Pepper ran her hand around his back in support as she noticed his distress. She grabbed his hand in hers.

"It's okay, Tony, it's just a memory, that part is all over now." She soothed as she rested her head on Tony's shoulder. Her warm embrace took his mind off of his friend temporarily as she turned her head upwards and pecked his cheek.

~…~

Later, the two went home after a long visit. But of course, instead of going home, as Pepper expected, Tony headed to the lab.

"Tony, don't you think you've done enough today? Why can't we just go back to your place and sit down and relax?" Pepper asked with an annoyed sigh.

"Because, I want to know more about the guy who shot Rhodey." Tony explained as they arrived at the lab and Tony punched in the passkey for the armory door.

"Can't it wait? Come on, you need some time to relax." Pepper asked.

"No I don't. I've never done it before and I'm fine so far." Tony said as he went to the computer and began searching random images and webpages. Pepper sighed and sat next to him, knowing he wouldn't give in any time soon. She stayed for a little bit longer before checking the time and seeing that it was late. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before saying goodbye, standing and starting to leave. Before she could leave, Tony grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace.

"Ah ah, not so fast missy." He muttered flirtily as he moved in closer and kissed her. Pepper giggled as she kissed back. She pulled away a moment later as she knew it was getting late and she had to get home before she broke curfew.

"Alright, alright I have to go for real now." She said with a smile as she headed out. "See you tomorrow."

Tony smiled, left in a daze as Pepper left for home. After not too long, he turned back to the computer to look up the man who had shot his father. But, after not finding much information at all via internet, he armored up and decided to do some recon and see if he could find the man sneaking around town. He had seemed very nervous and anxious, and Tony wanted to get to the bottom of it. Something seemed seriously wrong with him. Plus, he really wanted to get revenge on the guy who put his best friend in a coma.

As Pepper was walking home, she heard the faint sound of jet boots in the distance and looked back to see Iron Man flying off into the nighttime skyline. She sighed and shook her head. Sometimes, that boy was just relentless.

Tony searched the ground carefully, inspecting every alley and every suspicious crevice. There was no sign of the shooter, however.

As Tony grew tired of searching, he was about to turn back to the armory, drop off the armor and go home to get some sleep when he spotted a man hiding away in an alley. He lowered himself to the ground and inspected the alleyway. As he went further in, he realized that the man was running away from him.

"Hey! Wait, I just want to talk to you!" Tony called out. The man just kept running until he reached the end of the wall, where Tony managed to get him cornered. Iron Man grabbed the man and flew up to a rooftop to talk there.

"Calm down, I just want to talk. I have a few questions for you." Iron Man said in a calm voice.

"No! I said no before and you saw what I did to that kid! Get away from me!" The man yelled, once again seeming very nervous. "Just get out of my way!"

As he yelled, the man pushed past Iron Man and found the stairwell, proceeding to run down it.

"Wait! Come on, just questions!" Tony called after him, taking off from the roof to chase after him.

"I'm not telling you anything!" He yelled, disappearing into the darkness of nighttime NYC. Tony cursed under his breath when he realized that he had lost him once again.

However, Tony realized he was having trouble keeping his eyes open, so let out a deep sigh and decided to call it a night. Of course, that'd be hard to do, considering it was about one or two in the morning on a school night.

Just one more reason Tony knew he needed his best friend by his side to keep him centered.

**Well, I think that's good enough for tonight. Sorry if it took so long to update, you know how it is with the end of the school year. All this homework and studying and stuff…ughh, finals…so much studying, so little time…anyways, I thought I'd be considerate of your anticipation and update before I go on a long weekend trip to see my brother's college graduation. And here we are :3 But I can't wait for new episodes! I'm so anxious for the rest of the season! Anxious, I tell you! **

…**before I get weird let me just end this little author's note here…so review!**


	4. I'm A Danger To Others

Tony stumbled into school the next morning, shoulders slumped forward and eyes fighting to stay open. He found his way to his locker and tiredly entered his combination. Pepper found him at his locker and smirked when she noticed he was hunched forward a bit.

"Late night?" She asked.

"Yeah…" Tony answered tiredly.

"Well that's what happens when you stay up all night on stakeouts." Pepper teased.

"Yeah, well, Rhodey usually keeps me from doing that." Tony retorted. That was pretty true.

"Yeah, he is kind of a mom." Pepper said with a sigh. The two were silent for a moment before they decided to get to class before they were late.

As the teacher called attendance, Tony began talking to Pepper like usual, until their names were called.

"James? Where's Mr. Rhodes?" The teacher asked. "He's been absent for a whole week."

"Oh…uh...R-Rhodey…." Tony stuttered, unable to think of an excuse to tell the teacher.

"A family crisis came up suddenly and he has to spend the next couple weeks in another state." Pepper quickly responded. Tony heaved a sigh of relief as he knew he wouldn't have thought of anything close to a viable excuse.

"Thanks Pep," He whispered. Pepper smiled.

"It's kinda what I do." She answered.

~…~

Later that day, Tony went to visit Rhodey alone. Roberta had to work and Pepper had to go to her mother's apartment across town, as her mother had claimed that Pepper was never home to spend time with her anymore. (What she didn't know was that was due to Iron Man being constantly occupied.)

Tony walked into Rhodey's hospital room and sat down by the side of his bed. Just sitting there, all alone, reminded him too much of the months following his father's disappearance. He had felt more alone then than he had ever felt in his whole life…he had felt so irrelevant and so lonely then than he would ever feel in his whole life. It was horrible…and suddenly, he was feeling it all over again.

Tony sighed and stood.

"Sorry dude, I just can't do this whole lonely thing again." Tony explained as he gathered his things and left. He knew that if he let the lone ranger feeling wash over him again he'd never see the end of it.

Tony decided he'd go to the lab to touch up on the armor and catch up on some homework (which, of course, would take all of ten seconds for Tony to do). He knew that'd take his mind off of things for a while.

~…~

Across town, a man sat on the edge of the roof of a building, twiddling his fingers nervously. He rocked back and forth anxiously as he looked out at the city. His eyes constantly darted back and forth, watching for a foe that would never come.

He hadn't asked for a life of crime. He didn't ask for all of this trouble. Before this he was a happy-go-lucky family man. He'd had a loving wife and kids that he would give up the world for.

But then, suddenly, one day everything went wrong.

That day had been glued to his memory very unwillingly. The day had started out like any other- bright, hopeful and everything he could ask for. He had kissed his wife goodbye and gave his kids both hugs before he headed off to work. He got to his office and began working. But after a few hours, he had gotten a call from 911. That was the worst call he could ever hope to receive.

_As he sat at his desk, his phone rang suddenly. He picked it up and stated his name and company, accompanied by a hello._

"_Mr. Dawes…I have some unfortunate news. I'm very sorry to inform you…there's been a fire at your home residence. Your family…they didn't survive."_

_They didn't survive._

_The words echoed in his head. His eyes grew wide and the phone slipped out of his hand and onto the floor. He sat at his desk a moment, letting the words ring in his head before he finally got up and ran out. _

When he had gotten home, he had discovered that the oven had been cooking something for far too long, causing a fire to start that would burn down the whole house. He could only picture the scenario in his head; their son was only three years old and had a tendency to wander off. He figured that the boy had begun to wander, so after preparing some lunch and sticking it into the oven, she must've gone to chase after him for a little too long. An honest to god accident, but a fatal one at that.

After hours of running around what remained of their house (which wasn't much, really, everything surrounding the kitchen had been burned down). He had nothing left. No house, no family…_what's next, my job? _

From there, he went downhill. Desperate to get his family back, he tried everyone he could think of that claimed they could bring them back. But associating with people of bad intentions had dragged him down to low levels. So low that he began to associate with gangsters, and eventually he began owing debts. Eventually, he became a hit man to try and pay off his debts. He'd already lost his family, what did he have left to lose? He didn't mind killing a few people anymore.

And that's how he got to that moment. The life of a hit man wasn't an easy one. If he didn't do the job and do it quickly without getting arrested, he got in trouble. And he'd gotten in trouble with the boss several times. The hardest part of his life was the killing, though. As much as he said he didn't mind it, he actually did. Every time he killed someone he saw his wife in the victim's eyes. He saw his kids on their helpless expressions. It was getting harder and harder to handle.

When his boss asked him to finish off a guy in the city, he went to do his job. That was when the police busted him, followed by Iron Man's arrival. The pressure of Iron Man coming to take him to jail was so much that he shot an innocent kid. He hated what he'd become. He felt like a monster. He didn't even know what to do with himself even more. He endangered the life of an innocent teenager. Should he just kill himself or should he forget about it?

At that moment, killing himself seemed like the better option.

~…~

After Tony checked the time on his phone and figured that it was time to go back home. He caught a cab and shuffled into the Rhodes house quietly and found his way to his room. He sat down on his bed and sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair as he did so before removing his shoes and shirt and laid down and drifted into dream world- or nightmare world…

_Tony's eyes flashed open as he felt his breathing quicken. As he looked around he saw that the city was destroyed and everyone was sprawled out on the streets. He checked pulses; every one of them was dead. He looked down to his own hands to see the armor still on them. Memories of the day came flooding back to him. The criminal, the fighting, the armor going rogue and destroying the city…every bit of it was due to his incompetence and carelessness. _

_When he turned around, he immediately spotted two people lying lifelessly on the ground. Two very familiar people. The faces of his two closest friends in the world, James 'Rhodey' Rhodes and Patricia 'Pepper' Potts. The two people that mattered most to him, and they had been killed alongside everyone else because he had decided several years ago to build an advanced suit of armor. _

_He dropped down to his knees and removed the armor, falling to the ground in tears. Everyone, every last citizen was dead because of him._

Tony jolted awake, breathing heavily. Guess he wasn't going to sleep tonight after all…

**Uhh, yeah, I kinda haven't updated in a while. Sorry. I kinda forgot between school ending and finals beginning...you know, all that good stuff. And yeah, as you can tell I'm not focusing too much on the dude who shot Rhodey. I might do a few things here and there about him, like what I did in this chapter, just to explain his character a bit, but he's not the main focus really. I don't know if you can tell, but I've done WAAAY too many stories about someone wanting to kill someone. This one's more gonna be about Tony coping with Rhodey's coma and stuff. So yeah. Review?**


	5. You're Only Human

When Tony shuffled himself into school for several days in a row exhaustedly and with basically no energy to spare, Pepper knew something was wrong.

"Tony, are you okay? You look exhausted. Have you been up late with Iron Man stuff?" She asked.

"No…I just haven't been able to sleep very well at night lately." Tony responded. Now Pepper was very curious and concerned.

"Why not?"

"I-It's nothing…" Tony answered timidly. Pepper placed her hands on her hips in a stern manner.

"Tony, tell me. I want to know so I can help you. You've been like this all week." She insisted. Tony let out a deep sigh.

"Alright, if you insist…I've been having nightmares all week about Iron Man destroying the whole town." Tony explained. It was hard to talk about. He didn't want to think about the fact that his nightmares seemed too realistic. He knew it could happen fairly easily. As much as a hero as Iron Man was, Tony knew that if he made the slightest bit of a wrong move it could end in disaster. He knew that for a fact, and lately, it'd been hanging over his head.

Pepper wrapped her fingers in his and held his hand tight.

"Tony, why didn't you say anything before? If these nightmares are keeping you awake at night we need to find a way to get rid of them." She said.

"I know, I just didn't want to worry you too much, since a lot has happened lately." Tony explained. Pepper tightened her grip on his hand.

"Tony, I'm scared too. But we're in this together, and I'm always going to be here by your side. We both need to stay strong if we're going to get through this with our heads up." Pepper explained. Tony smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding her close to him as they walked down the hall to their next class. Before responding, he bent down and placed a small kiss on her lips.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…what I don't know about is how to get rid of the nightmares." Tony said.

~…~

After school, Tony and Pepper went to visit Rhodey at the hospital. Roberta usually checked in with her son on her lunch break and on her way home from work, so she wasn't usually with the two when they went. They approached Rhodey's bedside and sat down, as usual.

Yet every time Tony sat down beside his best friend nothing but self-blame and bad feelings came over him. He looked down to his feet, which immediately told Pepper he was doubting himself again. She placed her hand on top of his carefully and flashed him a sincere smile.

"Tony, don't even start blaming yourself." She said quietly. Tony sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, not my fault…I've heard this all before." Tony said sullenly.

"Well it's not surprise. You need to stop thinking that everything that happens to people is your fault, because it's not. You're only human, Tony, and you can only do so much." Pepper insisted. Tony knew she was right, but somehow it wasn't enough. It didn't wake Rhodey up, it didn't erase everything that had happened. The hurt was still there. He still felt it.

Tony closed his eyes tight, as if to block tears from falling. Pepper saw his pain. She understood perfectly where it came from, and she felt bad for him. She sighed and ran her hand over his back.

"I know it hurts, Tony, but your family and friends need you to stay strong. More importantly, _I_ need you to stay strong." Pepper said calmly. Tony sighed and sat up straight again.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. This has all just been a lot." Tony said.

"Tony, your friends understand more than you think. Everything you've had to face is far more than we were meant to face in our lives. People weren't meant to lose everyone and everything and be expected to recover. You have to accept the time to heal when those closest to you give it to you." Pepper assured.

"I suppose you're right…" Tony said, pushing his shoulders back and letting out a deep sigh. "I'm good now…"

Pepper sighed and placed her hand atop his once again. She could tell by Tony's tight grip on her hand that he most definitely was _not _okay.

~…~

Later that night, Tony decided to quickly scan the city before he would turn in for the night. As he was looking down at the streets for any signs of crime, he caught sight of a mysterious yet familiar man walking the streets of New York. Within minutes Tony recognized him and landed in front of him on the street.

"Not so fast, I'm not letting you get away this time! You shot and nearly killed an innocent citizen. You're going nowhere but jail." Iron Man demanded sternly. The man, still as nervous as Tony remembered him, grunted in frustration.

"You're never going to catch me!" He exclaimed, turning to run the other way. Iron Man grabbed him quickly by the back of his shirt, holding him inches above the ground.

"An innocent kid was harmed by your negligence. You're not going anywhere but jail!" Iron Man exclaimed.

"You're not bringing me anywhere!" The man exclaimed. Suddenly, he wound up his elbow, moving it forward before quickly jamming it back into Tony's chest plate. The chest plate spat sparks everywhere and his computer put a malfunction warning on screen.

"What the heck? How did you jam my systems?" Iron Man asked in a panic.

"I had a metal plate inserted into my elbow about three years back when I fractured the bones in it. It has a microchip inside of it that sent an electric pulse through your armor so strong that it had the capability of jamming all of your systems. I said you're not bringing me to jail and I mean it. Now let me go before I get in trouble!" Dawes explained, pushing against Iron Man and falling down to the ground below. Landing swiftly, he got up and quickly ran away. The mask of the suit now gone fuzzy, Tony didn't have time to go after him and spend the night chasing him down.

After fiddling with the computer for a little bit longer, Tony decided to switch to visual and turn in for the night. It was getting late, after all, and he was tired. Plus, As he was trying to figure it out, he got a call from Pepper. Since the comm. Systems where down, he had to let it go to voicemail.

"_Tony, go to bed already! You're going to wake up tired tomorrow if you don't. I love you, Tony." _

When he heard it through his pod, he figured it was about time to just go to bed. He could find the mysterious man tomorrow and get his story.

**This chapter was icky :P I don't like it too much, nothing really happens. But being completely fair, I'm having a block when it comes to ideas for this story. I don't know what else I want to do with the story, and that's probably why I haven't been updating it as frequently as I should. Sorry to say that might continue. Plus, I didn't mean for this story to be some big Iron Man ordeal, really, it's meant to be a reflection of Tony's tendency to blame himself for everything and the fact that he's lost so many people that by knocking Rhodey unconscious this story would show just how much Tony has had to face in his life and just how much that has made Rhodey and Pepper and everyone he cares about that much more important to him.**

**Well, I could babble forever about this. I'll just shutup here and say review!**


	6. I'm Not A Menace

Pepper was sitting in class when suddenly she heard a loud snore coming from behind her. She rolled her eyes when she looked back and saw Tony sleeping. She reached back and nudged him to try and wake him up, but it didn't work. She sighed quietly. She knew he hadn't slept last night, for whatever reason that may be.

"Mister Stark!" The teacher exclaimed suddenly, slamming her pointer onto her desktop. Tony jolted awake, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Mister Stark, if you're going to sleep in my class every day then you can sleep in detention instead." The teacher warned.

"Sorry…" Tony responded sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "by the way, the answer to the equation is 6…" Tony added, noticing the problem on the board. The teacher rolled her eyes and grunted in annoyance. Only Tony Stark could be asleep the whole class and once he wakes up still has the correct answer…

Pepper noticed Tony rest his head on the desk again and sighed.

"Tony, keep your head up, you'll only fall asleep again." Pepper warned in a whisper.

"I can't help it, I didn't sleep at all last night." Tony whispered back.

"Mr. Stark please stop talking!" The teacher warned. Tony, knowing he already had one strike, quieted and paid attention. Pepper turned her attention back to the lesson, deciding she'd talk to him about it after class.

~…~

"So, why aren't you sleeping at night?" Pepper asked once the bell rang.

"Because, I keep having these stupid nightmares." Tony responded. Pepper sighed. She knew he'd been having nightmares a lot lately. He hadn't done his homework in a week, his grades were dropping severely and he hadn't gotten an ounce of good quality sleep since Rhodey's accident. And he'd been pushing himself to the limit by searching for the man who caused Rhodey's accident ever since he had managed to escape that fateful day.

"Tony, maybe you should see a therapist or something…if you're plagued with these nightmares every night you should really be getting help. I hate to see you like this." Pepper suggested.

"Aw, I don't need to see a shrink. I'm fine…they'll go away. I've been through this before, they'll go away in no time." Tony said, trying (and failing) to wave his problems away.

"Tony, you're seventeen and you've been through this twice already. You shouldn't have to handle it on your own a third time." Pepper said.

"I'll be fine, Pep, I promise. Once Rhodey wakes up I'll be fine. It's only been a week since the accident anyways. We gotta give him time, after all, right?" Tony responded. Pepper sighed. She'd been trying to drill that into his head since Rhodey was shot, and he chooses now to accept it?

"Tony, please, at least talk about it to someone. It doesn't have to be all on you. If you just talked to someone about it you'd feel a lot better." Pepper insisted.

"Pep, I know you're concerned, but I can handle this. I'm perfectly fine." Tony said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"If you're so fine then why are you having nightmares every night?" Pepper asked, crossing her arms. Tony hesitated to answer.

"I-I just tend to have a few nightmares when something bad happens to someone I know…" Tony answered nervously.

"A few nightmares? Tony, you've had one every night for the past week. That's not a few, that's too many." Pepper said, staring at Tony angrily. Tony was silent for a moment as he held her gaze, getting more nervous by the second. The more he noticed her angry glare the more he knew she was right.

"Alright, alright, I'll sit down and talk to someone about my nightmares…" Tony said with a reluctant sigh. He knew she was concerned, and somewhere in his mind he knew she was right.

Pepper let a small smile form on her cheeks as she dropped her arms to her side.

"Thank you. I'm just concerned about you, Tony, whenever you get like this you start pushing people away. I don't want you to get to that point again." Pepper explained, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I suppose you're right…" Tony said. "C'mon, we'll be late for class."

~…~

After school that day, Tony followed Pepper to the Potts' apartment and sat down next to her on the living room couch.

"Alright, so tell me what goes on in these nightmares." Pepper said as she placed a hand on Tony's knee. Tony sighed as he began his explanation.

"Well, when it starts, I see the streets of the city covered with bloody, dead people. And when I look down at my feet I see you and Rhodey laying there, dead and bloody…and when I look at myself I see the armor, and I can tell it malfunctioned…" Tony said. He paused as to collect his strength to continue explaining.

"And then I walk around, stepping around the dead bodies carefully. There's no one left in the city, they're all dead. Even when I look into a building, it's empty. And if it's not, there's someone laying in it, also dead. So I-I try running away, out of the city, but I-I can't leave…" Tony explained. Pepper furrowed her brows in concern. That certainly did _not _sound good.

"Tony, that sounds horrible…it's that same dream every night?" She asked. Tony nodded.

"That's awful. Tony, you know you're not a danger to anyone, don't you? Because you are most certainly _not_." Pepper asked.

"I know that, but it doesn't feel like it's true…" Tony said sadly.

"Tony, you're Iron Man. You're a hero, you save lives. You would never destroy one, ever. Don't even think for a second that you're a danger to anyone." Pepper said sternly. Tony sighed. When he looked into her eyes, he saw her deep concern for him. He knew she only wanted him to be happy. But when Pepper looked into Tony's eyes, she saw how hurt and worried he was. She'd had no idea how much Rhodey's accident had scared him. She knew he'd been scared, but not _this _scared. The kind of scared she saw in his eyes wasn't like a child being scared of clowns; no, this scared was a scared that meant Tony was afraid he'd never get to see his best friend awake again. Like a victim about to be murdered in a horror movie scared.

"Tony…Tony it's okay to be scared." Pepper said as she squeezed his hand tight. When she looked into his eyes again, she wrapped her arms around his torso and held him tight. Tony wrapped his arms around her waist and held on tight, swearing to himself that he'd never let go.

~…~

_Once again Tony had fallen asleep, into a nightmare of a dead NYC. He looked around, as usual, to see everyone laying there, dead. All dead. Pepper's words from earlier in the day rang in his head._

_You are a hero, you save lives. _

_Tony shut his eyes tightly. 'I'm not a menace, I'm not a menace…this is just a dream…' Tony thought to himself, over and over again. He made sure Pepper's words of advice stuck in his mind. 'It's not me, it's just a dream…think of Pepper, think of Rhodey…do it for them…' Tony thought. As he squeezed his eyes shut, he tried to make all the dead bodies disappear. _

_Once he opened his eyes after a few minutes of positive thinking, he saw that there was no longer dead body after dead body lining the streets. But the city was still void of people. _

'_Come on, come back…everyone please, come back…' Tony begged to himself. He closed his eyes once more and when he opened them, suddenly the streets were lined with its usual businessmen and women, passersby and tourists and travelers. Tony heaved a sigh of relief as the city had seemed to return to his norm. _

_Tony took to the skies in his perfectly-functioning Iron Man armor and watched the streets below in happiness as the people on the streets looked up with excitement, yelling up to him and snapping pictures of him on their phones and cameras. He was beloved again; everything was okay again._

_Tony got to the armory and put the armor away in its rightful spot on the wall with the other suits and found his way over to Pepper's apartment. Once he got there, he saw that both friends were perfectly fine, not an injury in sight. He sighed in relief; he wasn't a menace._

_He was a hero._

**I think I'll go ahead and end this chapter here. I didn't think I'd get it to be long enough with the few ideas I had to put into it, but I think this has been a good chapter. Yay for me :3 well anyways, review?**


	7. Happy Endings

It was another normal day in the life of Tony Stark: go to school, visit Rhodey in the hospital, do some recon over the city then go home for dinner; unless there was a crime emergency, in which case one aspect of his day was interrupted. But for the young hero, that too was normal. If he wasn't in school, you bet you could find Iron Man battling it out with some random villain seeking revenge or an easy steal. This routine had been going on for a few days so far.

They had visited Rhodey at the hospital for a good hour and a half after school, after which Pepper had to head home to spend time with her mother. So Tony decided to do his usual recon quickly before heading home to catch up on some sleep, and maybe even some homework.

As he was scanning the city, however, he caught sight of Dawes standing on a rooftop, looking out over the city. Iron Man hastily landed on the rooftop behind him.

"I'm done chasing you around everywhere, Dawes! Just give up!" Tony demanded. Dawes turned casually to face Iron Man.

"I'm not forcing you to chase me, Iron Man. If you would let go of the past you'd stop caring about finding me and putting me away." Dawes said with a clever yet sinister smile.

"You nearly killed an innocent kid! You need to face the proper punishment. You don't just go around shooting people and getting away with it. Sooner or later you _will_ be caught." Iron Man responded. Dawes chuckled evilly.

"Oh, Iron Man. Why do you even care so much? Why can't you just leave it to the police? It's just some random kid." Dawes asked.

"I-I'm helping the police find you. The sooner you're in prison the better." Iron Man answered. Dawes shrugged.

"Fine, have it your way…if you want me put away so bad, we'll just start a game of cat and mouse…catch me if you can!" Dawes said cleverly. As he spoke he walked closer to the edge of the building, suddenly jumping off the edge. Tony acted quickly and followed him, flying over the streets. Iron Man flew as he chased Dawes through town, trying to shoot him down with repulsors. Dawes kept running through the city, stealthily avoiding all of Iron Man's attempts to bring him down. After a good hour of chasing Dawes, Iron Man had finally managed to catch him with a repulsor. Dawes fell to the ground, having been caught in the middle of Times Square. Tony landed on the street beside him, scooped him up and brought him to the SHIELD Helicarrier to be imprisoned for as long as SHILED saw fit.

After that was done and over with, Tony returned home to Roberta sitting at the kitchen counter, sipping some coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Oh…hey, Roberta…" Tony said nervously. He knew she'd been waiting for him.

"Hello, Tony," She said, putting the newspaper down. "Where have you been so long? I thought you were coming home after you were done at the hospital." She asked. Tony was silent for a moment.

"Oh, uh, I stopped by the lab for a little bit…I guess I got carried away. Sorry." Tony lied. He was trying his best to contain his excitement about catching Dawes, at long last. If she knew so soon after his conviction Tony knew she'd be on to his having a secret to hide. And he didn't want Roberta finding out he's Iron Man.

"If you say so…your dinner is on the counter." Roberta said as she headed upstairs for bed. "Goodnight Tony."

Tony sat in the silence and darkness of the kitchen as he warmed up and ate his dinner. He didn't like lying to Roberta, but he knew he had to. He knew that if she knew she'd make him quit. And having her son in a coma for god knows how long was stressful enough. It just wasn't the right time to let her in on the little secret, if he had spontaneously decided he'd want to tell her.

~…~

A few more days passed by, meaning it had been a total of a little over two weeks since Rhodey had been knocked unconscious. Tony had started out a normal Monday by going to school, going to the hospital after, doing some recon then home for dinner. It was when Tony, Pepper and Roberta were sitting down to dinner when the phone rang.

As Tony and Pepper began eating, Roberta answered the phone.

"_Mrs. Rhodes, we have some very exciting news! Your son James has made a spectacular recovery. He's waking up to the care of our doctors as we speak." _

"Oh my goodness, that's great news!" Roberta exclaimed, catching the attention of Tony and Pepper.

"Yes, we'll be there as soon as we can! Thank you so much!" Roberta said, hanging up the phone.

"What was that about?" Tony asked.

"That was the hospital. James is waking up!" She explained as she hurried to retrieve her coat and car keys. Tony and Pepper quickly sprang out of their seats and followed Roberta into the car, on their way to the hospital.

In a matter of twenty minutes, the three had arrived at the hospital and quickly found their way to Rhodey's hospital room. There was already a doctor and a nurse in there going through the procedures required when a comatose patient was waking up.

The three walked into the room and worked their way next to Rhodey's bedside to see Rhodey sitting up in his bed. The doctors stepped away to let the four catch up.

When Tony saw Rhodey sitting there, awake and smiling, he felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. Suddenly all the self-blame, all the remorse, all the shame and guilt was erased from his mind. Tony watched with happiness as Roberta gave her son a huge hug and asked him a million questions about what he remembered about his accident.

After a few minutes, Roberta figured Tony would want to talk to his friend alone so she decided she'd talk with the doctor about the circumstances of her son's condition and what needed to be done for recovery.

"Good to see you." Tony said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Pepper rolled her eyes and smiled at Tony's simple statement.

"Yeah, it's good to not be in a coma. It's really boring." Rhodey responded. Tony smiled.

"So, if I know my best friend correctly I'm guessing Tony was having nightmares every night for however long I was asleep, felt extremely guilty and got barely any sleep?" Rhodey said, directing the statement more at Pepper, since he knew Tony wouldn't want to tell him all about his troubles.

"How do you know me so well? It's honestly a bit scary." Tony said. The three laughed lightly.

"Dude, I've been your best friend for ten years. By now it's not hard to figure out how you work." Rhodey responded. Tony shrugged.

"Fair enough."

"So what did happen that day to make me comatose?" Rhodey asked. Tony hesitated to answer. What he wanted to say was that it was all his fault, he had been careless, and if he hadn't been so slow to act none of this would've happened. He wanted to say blame him, he clearly wasn't a hero at all. But when he looked at Rhodey, over to Pepper and back to Rhodey, what came out of his mouth was entirely different.

"It…it was some random criminal. I caught him a few days ago and brought him to SHIELD." Tony said. Pepper grabbed his hand in hers and held it tight. She smiled at him. She was proud of his explanation. He had spent the past two and a half weeks blaming himself like he always did, despite her constant telling him it wasn't true. He thought himself a menace for so long, but he finally saw it from his friends' eyes.

"Wait wait wait, is this _my _Tony? Because I recall my Tony blaming himself for everything…" Pepper teased. Tony smiled.

"Hey, I'm Iron Man, right? As long as I'm still here I'll be protecting people. I'm a hero, not a danger." Tony said proudly. Pepper smiled up to him and rested her head on his shoulder. They chatted more with each other and the doctor, and before long everything had returned to normal. Rhodey had returned to school later that week, and Tony had begun a new lifestyle: one where he was confident in his own abilities. A lifestyle where he knew he is only human and can only expect so much from himself. A Tony a little more in touch with reality.

**Corny ending, I know, but I'm sick of pining for ideas for this story. I really got nothing else…I think I've done all I wanted to do for this story, so I'm satisfied with it. As satisfied as I'll get, anyways. Review? Seriously, it's right below this A/N. (Well, unless you're on the mobile version…) Ten times more convenient, if you ask me…FF working in the favor of the hard-working author…thank you whoever thought of that XD **

**Plus hey, I think Poisonous will be super awesome…I'll be working on that tomorrow XD**


End file.
